Tales from Golden Heart, Part Two: In the 1960s, McKendree Spring was Bolton Landing’s Rock Band in Residence

Golden Heart farm, the Bolton Landing artists’ colony established by Thomas and Weber Furlong in the 1920s, was not only a retreat for painters and sculptors.

In the 1960s and 70s, the farm was headquarters for a band which Billboard magazine called “one of the best unknown groups in the world,” McKendree Spring.

Last summer, the Lake George Mirror published a brief history of the farm, recounting the lives of the Furlongs, two New York artists who painted along side John Graham, Alexander Calder, Thomas Hart Benton and Rockwell Kent, and who were responsible for introducing sculptor David Smith to Bolton Landing.

Affiliated with the Art Students League, the Furlongs purchased the house, fields, barns and outbuildings in 1921 and renamed the old farm “Golden Heart.”

The farm was reputed to have “one of the most magnificent views of the lake in the vicinity,” according to a newspaper clipping from 1961.

The house was built in the 1860s by Rufus Randall, a returning veteran of the Civil War. He cleared and farmed the land and raised his family there before selling the property to another Bolton man, Edson Persons.

For three decades, from the 20s through the 50s, artists came to the farm every summer to work and study with the Furlongs.

After Thomas Furlong’s death in 1952, Weber Furlong moved to Glens Falls, where she continued to teach and paint until her death in 1962.

That, more or less, was where our story ended. But at least one chapter of the tale was missing, because we were unable to answer this question: what became of Golden Heart after Weber Furlong sold it?

“There’s a reason why Dreyfuss is known as ‘Doc.’ He holds degrees in physics and medicine. And he was a founding member of a band called McKendree Spring. He’ll fill you in,” said Caldwell.

We reached Dreyfuss at his home in Cleveland, Ohio.

In 1947, Dreyfuss began visiting Golden Heart with his parents, Dr. William Dreyfuss and Lily Dreyfuss, a painter.

“The Furlongs and my parents became fast friends, and we would visit every summer for two weeks or so. My mother painted. My father and I hung out,” says Dreyfuss

“Several years later, Weber was offered a modest amount for Golden Heart. We offered her more, because she was such a good friend. Next thing you know, we owned land, a barn, a house that was quaint, without water or electricity, but with an astonishing view of Lake George. Olaf Ronning rehabbed the house and put it into beautiful shape,” recalled Dreyfuss.

Seeking a quiet place where he could complete his first novel, Dreyfuss and his wife, Elizabeth Travis Dreyfuss, moved to the farm in 1965.

“Elisabeth taught American history at Adirondack Community College, while I stayed home, being a daddy to our first child and writing,” said Dreyfuss.

Having played the violin since he was five and the viola since high school, Dreyfuss also taught music at Skidmore.

“I also played chamber music with local musicians, mostly from Saratoga Springs. I remember one summer in particular. A friend of mine, a cellist named Christopher von Baeyer, happened to be performing with the Lake George Opera Festival, and he stayed with us. After the performances, he would bring home a bevy of extraordinary musicians. We had three cabins, and the musicians would spend the night. Our chamber music evenings usually began around 1 am and ended at 4 am, by which time Chris and I were inevitably incoherent, mentally and musically,” said Dreyfuss.

“Elisabeth mentioned that she had seen a student in an ACC talent show who sang beautifully. ‘Would you like to meet him?’ she asked. His name was Fran Mckendree. Elisabeth brought Fran to Golden Heart one day and we hit it off immediately, very much enjoying improvising and playing tunes together. We invited guitarist Marty Slutsky and bass player Larry Tucker to join us, and we rehearsed with the intention of forming a band. That was the beginning of McKendree Spring,” said Dreyfuss.

“We knew we had something right away. Our first official gig was a benefit for the NAACP in Glens Falls. We had heard that the organization was under duress, and we volunteered to play. All the instruments, including my violin, went through a small Fender Reverb amp which I had purchased at a gift shop in Glens Falls,” said Dreyfuss.

The band, which drew initially upon the traditions of American folk music that also inspired groups like the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Poco and Quicksilver Messenger Service, began playing the coffee house circuit from Boston to New York. The band’s rise was a quick one.

“Sometime in 1968, we decided to drive to New York in our Dodge Dart with our instruments and gear and audition for the Bitter End’s Hootenanny Tuesdays, where we knew bands got discovered by agents, managers, and other record people. We made it through the audition and were scheduled to play the Hootenanny late – 2 am. The place was nearly empty. They invited us back and as a result of that show we were offered recording, publication, and management contracts,” said Dreyfuss.

Within the next few years, the band traveled through Europe and the United States, performing at places such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Radio City Music Hall, and at the Washington Monument, where the group played before a million Vietnam War protesters.

McKendreee Spring opened for bands like Emerson, Lake and Palmer and the Velvet Underground, groups that shared Dreyfuss’s interest in experimenting with electric violins and feedback.

“Between tours, we would come home to Bolton Landing to crash,” said Dreyfuss.

Michael and Elisabeth Dreyfuss sold Golden Heart in 1972, and the members of Mckendree Spring went on to pursue new careers.

Mckendree, Slutsky and Dreyfuss, however, still re-unite on occasion, and in 2010 the band released its first studio recording in 35 years, “Recording Number 9.” The Progressive Rock Hall of Fame named it the best progressive rock album of the year in 2011.

Dreyfuss’ days in Bolton Landing, though, are indelibly printed in his memory.

“I’ll never forget that view across Lake George from Gold Heart, or rehearsing in the barn,” said Dreyfuss. “Bolton Landing was essentially dead in the winter, but it was a fun, relaxed place, especially in the summer. I was always struck by the camaraderie and the good will of the community. Good people.”

Of Golden Heart, Dreyfuss says, “Writing all day and playing tunes all night. It was music heaven.”